Arsenal were very good value for the first half lead over Crystal Palace as we dominated the visitors both before and after that 17th minute strike. But it was only 1-0 at the break and so it could well have been a very nervous Arsenal dressing room and a different game but for a piece of individual brilliance from our French centre forward Olivier Giroud.
The improvised scorpion kick finish from the Frenchman may well end up being the Premier League goal of the season as the pundits agreed that it was a more difficult and better finish than the scorpion kick by ythe Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan against Sunderland a few days ago.
It was a good performance all round from the Gunners, although we did perhaps take the foot off the gas after Giroud’s wonder goal. Alex Iwobi scored a second with a looping header after a ctross from the excellent Monreal popped up off a Palace boot.
From then on the result looked safe and we could have scored more. There was a brief fightback from Palace but Petr Cech was up to the task to deny them with a double save. Hopefully the comfortable manner of our win will not have taken too much out of the players ahead of the trip to Bournemouth in two days.
Keep it up Arsenal.
Bob.